Speak Like a Child

Wow. Super lazy all around...I tried a new shading style but I don't think I like it...I was trying to make it more 'manga-ish' but I think I picked the wrong tone. Oh well. I'll try agian next time ^__^ The little girl in the last panel is a character of mine named Bree. Isn't she a cutie?
Anyways...
Today's class brought up an interesting point, especially since I had a conversation with someone about it just two days ago: What are we allowed to teach kids? And by that, I mean, in regards to mature topics like death, sexuality, and evil in general. The girl I was talking to (I'll spare names) basically said that she was going to keep her children as 'innocent' as she could, for as long as she could, and not bring up serious matters until they had to be dealt with.
To be honest, that didn't strike me as 'innocent'. It struck me as naive.
Keeping our children so tightly sheltered will only hurt them in the long run. Wouldn't it be a lot better to explain what death is to a child instead of having a death suddenly come and rock their world completely off of its foundations, unable to comprehend and unable to cope with the new sensation of loss? Of course, you aren't going to take your three-year-old aside and show them pictures from a brutal murder and explain it to them: you have to do it tastefully and gentley. They are going to realize that they were born into a world of suffering eventually...you might as well get it out of the way sooner rather than later.